Trouble in Paradise
by Neal Wolf
Summary: Part 8b of a series. The Rangers travel to Hawaii to help out a little girl's mother and find more than they bargained for...


Early morning found Dale and Foxglove at the police station. The chipmunk leaned back against the mounting of the ceiling fan serving as their perch. "Y'know, I never did much like just hanging around up here waiting for a case to pop up."

The bat grinned over her shoulder at him from her spot on the fan base's edge. "Well, I know it's not because you're afraid of heights…"

"It's boring," Dale whined. "It's worse today, though; I really wanted to see the looks on the dogs' faces when they see their new headquarters."

"So did I," Foxglove replied with a nod, "but Gadget did promise to save the surveillance camera file for us. Besides…" she eased back from her vantage point and snuggled in next to him. "It does give us some quiet time together."

"Well, when ya put it _that_ way…" he smiled, draping his arm across her shoulders and nuzzling her cheek.

A few moments later, the sound of crying from the air vent caught both Rangers' attention. Dale latched on to Foxglove's feet as the bat swooped down to the vent; just inside the grate was a young mouse girl. She looked up at the pair with reddened blue eyes, pushing a few stray strands of blonde hair away from her face. Foxglove smiled warmly as they approached the child. "What's wrong, sweetie?"

"I'm… I'm lost," the girl sniffled. "I'm looking for the Rescue Rangers…"

"You're in luck, kiddo; you found 'em," said Dale brightly. "Two of 'em, anyway."

"Honest?" The child's face lit up. "You gotta help me! I think something bad's happened to my mom…"

The bat rested a wingtip on the girl's back. "What makes you think that?"

"The last time I saw her was at the airport back home," the child explained. "She was actin' real funny, like somebody was following her… she gave me a plane ticket and told me to come to New York and find the Rescue Rangers, then she pushed me through security and ran away."

"Don't worry, kid; we'll help you find her." Dale then pulled a small radio transceiver from inside his shirt and activated it. "Hey, Chip? Gadget? Somebody listening?"

A second later, the voice of the Rangers' leader crackled through the transceiver. "We hear you, Dale; you and Foxglove find us a case?"

"Sure did, Chipper!" The chipmunk gave the mouse girl a wide grin and a wink. "Can you guys meet us at the police station?"

"We're on our way," Chip confirmed.

"Should only take them a couple of minutes with the Rangerwing," Foxglove noted as Dale stuffed the radio back into his shirt. She then held out her wingtip for the girl. "C'mon, we'll meet up with them on the roof. What's your name, honey?"

"Leilani," the girl replied, taking the chiropteran's wingtip in her small hand. "I'm from Kauai."

* * *

"We need to go all the way to Hawaii?" asked Chip after a quick round of introductions.

"It's not that big of a deal," Gadget pointed out. "We'll just do the same thing we did last time: stow the Rangerwing away in an airliner's luggage compartment."

"Oi'm pretty sure we have spare clothes an' all that in the 'wing's supplies," added Monty.

"I don't know…" The look in Leilani's eyes ended any further protest from the fedora-clad chipmunk. "All right," he sighed. "All aboard for the Aloha State."

Climbing into the craft, Foxglove noted the absence of two of the team. "Where's Tammy and Nathaniel?"

"Tammy had some personal business to take care of," Gadget told her. "Nathaniel went with her."

Chip, meanwhile, keyed up the Rangerwing's radio. "Rangerwing to headquarters, come in."

"I read you, Rangerwing, go ahead," came Flash's voice through the radio speaker.

"Flash, it looks like this case is gonna take us a while; we'll need you guys to hold down the fort until we get back. We'll also be out of radio range, but you should be able to contact Nathaniel and Tammy in the Ranger Plane if you need to."

"Understood; headquarters out."

After an uneventful (though uncomfortable) flight, Gadget guided the Rangerwing from Honolulu over the stretch of Pacific Ocean to the island of Kauai. Leilani had stayed asleep for most of the trip, so Chip took the opportunity now to question her. "Why would someone be after your mom?"

"I really don't know," the small girl replied. "She's just the secretary for Kau-Air Shipping."

"I've heard of them," Gadget chimed in. "They handle import/export business for the small animal community between Hawaii and Japan; Dad took a couple of commission flights for them when I was little."

"They ever had any legal trouble?" asked Dale.

The inventor shook her head. "Not that I know of."

"Maybe Leilani's mother overheard sumpthin' she shouldn't have," Monty offered.

"Sounds like as good a place as any to start," concluded Chip. "Leilani, can you show us how to get there?"

"I think so…" Leilani leaned over the edge of the Rangerwing and looked down, then pointed to what looked like an abandoned building. "That's it… I think." Upon closer inspection, part of the roof of the building appeared to have been converted into a rodent-size airstrip, with a nearby storage shed looking to be used as a warehouse.

The Rangerwing settled to the ground near the building, now clearly bearing the Kau-Air Shipping logo over the main bay door. "Awful quiet around here," Gadget observed, looking around.

"Mom said they haven't had nearly as much business since that French lady took over," Leilani told them.

"French lady?" Monty raised an eyebrow. "Yer mum evah say her name?"

The Hawaiian mouse shook her head. "Mom always called her Frenchie… or words I'm not supposed to say…"

The interior of the warehouse seemed just as devoid of occupancy as the airstrip. A few crates were stacked here or there, waiting to be shipped, but no sign of anything living. "Which way is the office, Leilani?" asked Chip.

She pointed first across the warehouse floor, then to a small enclosed area off to the right. "The main office is on the other side of the building; the dispatcher and dock foreman's office is right over there."

"We'll start there, then." The chipmunk led the others toward the enclosure. "Maybe we can find some clue of what's been going on around here."

Leilani edged closer to Dale as they made their way across the warehouse floor. "I didn't know how creepy this place was when nobody's around…"

The chipmunk smiled, resting a paw on her shoulder. "Aw, don't worry, kid; we won't let anything happen to you."

The Rangers reached the smaller office and slipped inside, finding an open door. "Now spread out and look for anything that might be helpful," Chip directed. "Invoices, client lists, stuff like that."

After a few minutes of going through various paperwork to no avail, Foxglove noticed something missing. "Hey, where'd Leilani go?" Just then, the door slammed shut and a sickly green cloud began billowing from the room's air vents.

"Gas!" cried Chip. "We gotta get outta here!"

"Roight!" Monty charged the door, hitting it with his shoulder with all his strength, but it held firm. The cloud turned out to be a very fast-acting knockout gas, and darkness claimed the Rescue Rangers before the Australian could muster a second effort to free them.

When the Rangers came around, they found themselves locked in a cage towards the center of the warehouse floor. The bars were easily far enough apart for Zipper to get through, save for the fact that he was chained by one ankle to the middle of the cage's ceiling. An all-too-familiar feminine form stood at the cage door, with Leilani beside her. "About time you guys woke up."

"Lawhinie," Gadget practically spat the name. "I should've known if there was trouble around here, you'd be mixed up in it somehow."

"What've you done with Leilani's mom?" Dale demanded.

"You mean you haven't figured it out yet?" Lawhinie laughed. "Jeez, you're dumber than I remember. I haven't done anything with Leilani's mother; I _am_ her mother."

Zipper buzzed dejectedly, to which Monty nodded. "Too roight, Zip; 'ard ta believe the Rescue Raynjahs got set up by a kid."

"Seems to run in the family," Chip grumbled, then sneered at the Hawaiian mousess. "So what sort of con are you running this time, Lawhinie? I don't see any superstitious natives around for you to swindle…"

Lawhinie folded her arms across her chest. "Don't bother laying all of this at my feet, Chirp…"

"My name…" the chipmunk growled, "… is Chip."

The villainess dismissed the correction. "I'm just the hired help this time."

"Why should we believe that?" Dale asked skeptically.

"Because eet ees true; she ees working for me." Another, equally familiar female strode forward, flanked by two rats. She stopped a short distance from Lawhinie and looked to the cage. "Long time no see, Monzerey Jacques."

"Oh golly," Gadget held one hand in front of her mouth. "Isn't that…?"

"No, it isn't," said Monty. "It's worse. Raynjahs, meet Jeanne-Marie D'allure, Desiree's twin sister."

"You always were ze only one 'oo could tell us apart," Jeanne-Marie grinned slyly. "But zen, you know what to look for, _n'est ce pas_?" Monty glared at the French mouse, but couldn't hide the fact that he was also blushing.

"Hate to interrupt the reunion," Lawhinie didn't bother to hide the sarcasm in her tone. "As you can see, D'allure, I kept my end of the deal."

The French mouse-maid nodded. "So you did; you 'ave proven quite useful. In fact, I can think of ozair uses for you, and just to make sure you remain cooperative…" she turned to one of the rats beside her. "Take ze girl."

The blonde Hawaiian pulled her daughter back behind her defensively. "Any of your goons lays a finger on her," she snarled, "and I'll rip his throat out… right before I come for yours."

Jeanne-Marie met the threat with a smirk. "Contain your maternal instincts, Lawhinie; remembair 'oo else is my, how you say, _guest_…"

Lawhinie growled, then felt a tug at the side of her dress. She looked down to see Leilani reaching to be picked up, and obliged. "It's okay, Mom," the girl said, looking into her mother's eyes. "If they want me to go with them, I will."

Lawhinie's ear twitched slightly as her daughter spoke. She said something in Polynesian, to which Leilani nodded. "Yes, I'm sure. I'll be okay; I just don't want them to hurt you… or Daddy."

A slight grin pulled at the corner of the mouse woman's mouth, then she sighed and set the girl down. Her eyes followed every step of Leilani's slow walk toward the hench-rat. "Do not worry, she will not be 'armed," Jeanne-Marie assured her, "as long as you behave." She looked back to the rat now holding Leilani by the arm. "Take her to ze ozair cell; we have an arrival tomorrow morning to plan for. Lawhinie, here, can keep watch ovair ze prisoners."

Once D'allure and her cronies were out of earshot, Lawhinie turned to the Rangers. Gadget spoke before she could, however. "I just have one question."

The inventor's look-alike arched an eyebrow. "That being?"

Gadget nudged the door of the cage; to the surprise of the other Rangers, it swung open easily. "Where did your daughter learn to pick locks with her tail?"

Lawhinie grinned, pulling a hairpin from behind her ear and setting to work on Zipper's shackle. "She's been learning different tricks with her tail as long as she's known she has one." The fly buzzed his (somewhat surprised) thanks as the shackle popped open. "I didn't know you spoke Polynesian."

"I don't," said Gadget with a shrug. "I heard the lock open while she was talking… I'm guessing you did, too."

The Hawaiian nodded. "Let's get moving; we've got to get her and Shaka-Baka and get out of here before Frenchie realizes you're free."

"Her father, I presume." Chip gave her a peculiar look.

She nodded again. "He was my husband first; I'm not _that_ bad." Lawhinie carefully led the Rangers along the warehouse floor, toward the main office. "Having Leilani to worry about has actually helped me straighten my life out, getting a job here and trying to stay out of trouble."

"You call working for someone like _her_ trying to stay out of trouble?" asked Gadget.

"She wasn't here when I started," Lawhinie explained. "She bought the place about a month ago. I would've quit when she suggested I bring you here if she hadn't already kidnapped Shaka-Baka from a surfing competition when she told me to do it… insurance, she called it."

Chip was still suspicious. "So why send Leilani to New York instead of coming yourself?"

"I knew you wouldn't believe me," she said simply. "The fact that it kept her out of D'allure's reach for a while helped."

The remaining Rangers hung back a bit during the conversation. "It's weird," said Foxglove. "I mean, I read her file, but it still amazes me how Lawhinie and Gadget are almost identical physically, yet their personalities are almost polar opposites."

"It's like they're twins," Dale said with a nod, "or clones, or somethin'…"

"T'ain't but one fella could shed any light on that," Monty told them, "and he ain't said much of anything for quite a while".

Lawhinie, the Rangers close behind, quietly slipped in the door leading from the warehouse to the main office. "Shaka-Baka's locked in one of the side offices," she informed them. "Based on what she said, I'll bet D'allure's got Leilani in there, too."

Foxglove paused, raising one ear intently. "Two rats," she replied to Dale's inquiring look; she shook her head as the assembled rodents took defensive stances. "They're moving away from us. One of them's telling the other that he's looking forward to finding out what's coming tomorrow."

Chip thought a moment, then nodded. "Foxy, you and Dale keep an ear on them; shadow 'em if you have to. I wanna know just what D'allure's up to that she'd drag us all the way here to be captured. We'll free the prisoners and meet you at the door to the warehouse."

The bat nodded her understanding, then she and Dale headed down an adjacent hallway while the others continued forward. Peeking around the next hallway, Lawhinie growled under her breath and pulled back. "Great, a guard," she muttered. "Just one, but…"

"Any ideas how to sneak past him, Chip?" asked Gadget.

The chipmunk thought a moment about what he had to work with, then grinned. "Lawhinie, you're good at fooling people; make him think you're transferring us to be kept here."

The Hawaiian mousess smirked. "Then, as soon as his back's turned, the big guy here can flatten him."

Monty cracked his knuckles. "Oi loike this plan…"

A moment later, the rat standing outside the office serving as a cell arched an eyebrow as Lawhinie approached, the Rangers trudging behind her with their hands behind their backs. "Whut'chu doin' wit dem, mousie?" he asked gruffly.

"D'allure said she wants them kept in here instead of the warehouse, so she can keep an eye on all of her prisoners at once," the blonde mouse explained.

The rat narrowed his eyes suspiciously. "Didn' nobody tell me…"

"You wanna go argue with her? Be my guest; I'm gonna do what she told me."

The guard weighed his options, then turned to unlock the door. A sharp blow to the back of the head later, his world was rendered completely black.

The two occupants of the office turned jail cell looked up as the door opened, then smiled as they saw who was on the other side. "Mom!" Leilani dashed for Lawhinie, leaping into her arms.

"Way ta go, doll!" Shaka-Baka beamed. "Ya even brought the Ranger dudes all the way out here ta save us!"

Lawhinie shifted her daughter in her arms. "Um, not exactly, baby…"

Leilani looked back over her shoulder. "Mom had me lead 'em into a trap an' then I picked the lock on their cage with my tail." The girl's mother grinned sheepishly at her husband as his expression turned sour.

The surfer mouse folded his arms across his chest. "Lawhinie Hackwrench Kinimau, you told me you'd gone straight."

"_**HACKWRENCH?**_" said the Rangers in shocked unison, cutting off Lawhinie's reply.

"My maiden name," Lawhinie raised an eyebrow to them curiously. "The orphanage where I grew up said it was my birth parents' name when I got too old to stay there. I thought about changing it, but decided to keep it just to spite 'em. What of it? You know someone else with that name?"

"Yeah," Gadget said quietly. She paused for a moment before she continued. "It looks like we really _are_ sisters… or at least cousins."

"Not cousins," Monty shook his head. "Geegaw didn't 'ave any brothers or sisters; when Marianna… yer mum… passed on, 'e was th' only adult Hackwrench left."

All of the rodents simply stared at each other in awkward silence for a second, then Leilani spoke up. "Mom? I know this is prob'ly really important grownup stuff, but shouldn't we get outta here before he wakes up?" She pointed to the unconscious rat in the hallway.

"Leilani's right," Chip sighed. "We can straighten all this out later."

"She usually is," Lawhinie smirked, still carrying Leilani, as she and Shaka-Baka followed the Rangers back toward the warehouse.

The group rendezvoused with Dale and Foxglove in the hallway; the chiropteran Ranger looked unusually grim. "How bad is it, Foxy?" asked Chip.

"Very," the bat's tone was even darker than her appearance. "D'allure's client is a field mouse who's working for a British speaker… who has ties to every terrorist organization in the world. The shipment they're getting tomorrow morning is explosives and equipment for them to use to knock out Hawaii's long-range radar system. Once it's down, the speaker's allies will come in and, to use D'allure's own words, 'make Pearl Harbor look like a practice run'."

* * *

The Rangers and company crept through the warehouse and back to the waiting Rangerwing. "We gotta stop 'em," said Monty, determined.

Dale nodded. "Yeah, but how?"

"And why?" Lawhinie put in. "This mess'll be the humans' problem soon enough; let them deal with it while we high-tail it back to the mainland. It's not like you guys are the Rescue Aid Society."

"No, we're the Rescue Rangers," Chip told her flatly. "We can't just run away and do nothing."

"Y'know, that's probably why D'allure wanted us out of the way," Foxglove mused. "She figured the RAS would call us as soon as they realized animals were involved in this."

Gadget, meanwhile, had been checking the Rangerwing for sabotage. Finding none, she hopped down from the engine. "Besides, how often do conflicts between the humans spill over into our society? Almost every time; collateral damage, if nothing else."

"All right, all right," the Hawaiian mousess shook her head, then jerked a thumb toward Dale. "That still leaves Rudolph's question of how."

"I've been thinking about that," the inventor replied. "We'll need someplace to hide out for a while… and Shaka-Baka's surfboard."

Shaka-Baka looked like he was about to cry. "My board? _Again_? You're not gonna chip it like ya did last time, are you?"

Gadget shook her head, grinning. "No, that's just for an emergency escape method if we need it." She folded her arms across her chest in response to the curious looks from the others. "I think we need to help D'allure clean up her act."

* * *

The following morning found D'allure sitting in front of a radio system, looking less than pleased with the conversation she was having. "So I'm to understand that not only did the Rescue Rangers escape your custody," the voice on the radio asked sourly, "but they were aided in doing so by someone in your employ?"

"Zere ees no cause for alarm, _monsieur _Pfizer," D'allure purred into the microphone. "I 'ave searched both ze entire grounds here and ze traitor's home, and found no trace of ze Rangers or her. Most likely, zey are on zere way back to ze mainland as we speak."

"You had best hope so, Miss D'allure," Pfizer growled, "for your own sake. Neither my bipedal associate nor I take very kindly to failure…"

"You worry too much, _monsieur_," the French mouse assured him. "Everything will proceed according to plan, and be completed on schedule."

"No, Miss D'allure, you do not worry enough," the cold voice over the radio returned. "However, time will tell. Just so you recall, however, one of the tasks you were contracted for was to keep the Rangers out of the way until the other tasks were completed. As you are not doing so, your payment will be reduced accordingly. Pfizer out."

D'allure leaned back in her chair, cursing under her breath in French. Though she had told the truth about having both the warehouse grounds and Lawhinie's home searched, she had her own misgivings about possible interference from the Rangers… or from Lawhinie herself. However, she wasn't about to let her employer know this.

Suddenly, a scrawny, unkempt white mouse burst into the room. "Boss! Boss! Da plane! Da plane!"

D'allure rolled her eyes, then glanced over at a watch face mounted on the wall. "Right on schedule," she nodded, then stood and turned to the new arrival. "Clear zem to land, zen direct ze plane to ze main dock doors." She strode past him, then stopped and looked over her shoulder. "Oh, and I am docking your salary for ze bad joke."

The new arrival, apparently not even aware that he'd made a joke, scratched his head for a moment. A quick glare from D'allure broke his puzzlement and sent him running to carry out her instructions. The French mouse herself went to the main doors, watching the plane as it taxied in and keeping a sharp eye and ear for any sign of the Rangers or Lawhinie; she gave an inward sigh of relief as none presented itself. She motioned to a handful of her hench-rodents as the plane came to a stop in front of the doors. "Get ze cargo unloaded quickly," she said, "and carefully. Zat ees very delicate equipment, and a rainstorm could spring up weethout warning". She then escorted the pilot to the warehouse office.

"I trust your trip was uneventful, _monsieur_?" D'allure asked as she signed some paperwork.

The pilot nodded. "Clear skies, light breeze… heck, I would'a been here early, 'cept for a delay at my other stop."

"Ozair stop?" the French mouse arched an eyebrow.

"Yes'm; medical supplies for some kook lives on a private island just off Midway. Don't you worry none, I watched real careful like while his two goons… twins, from the look of 'em, don't think they had but five brain cells a'tween 'em… anyhow, I kept an eye on 'em while they was unloadin' his stuff. They didn't mess with yours none." He tipped his hat as he took his copy of the paperwork. "Funny, though, I could'a swore I heard you say somethin' about equipment, but'cher freight bill says yer gettin' fireworks."

"_Oui_, ze equipment is for launching ze fireworks properly," D'allure grinned at the pilot's skeptical look as they walked back to the plane. "Zey are very high quality… how you say, top of ze line." She edged a bit closer to him as they walked. "By ze way, thank you so much for safeguarding our shipment; our client will be quite pleased."

The pilot blushed slightly. "Shucks, just doin' m'job, ma'am. Y'all take care now."

"_Au revoir_," She waved as the plane's engines hummed to life, secretly grinning to herself that the pilot's suspicions were thrown off so easily. As the plane lifted off, however, the engines were joined by a second sound, one that struck D'allure as far more curious.

"Ze fire alarm? What…" Realization came a moment too late. She dashed back to the warehouse just in time to see the overhead pipes start gushing water onto both her shipment and her surprised cronies, far more so due to the fact that the sprinkler heads had been removed.

"_Non_! Ze explosives and equipment, zey are ruined!" D'allure looked up and noticed the trailing end of flowing blonde hair darting out a side door. "Lawhinie!" she screamed. "You will pay for zis, I swear it! When I get my hands on you…"

"Hey, Frenchie," a familiar voice came from beside her. She turned just as Lawhinie's fist cracked into her jaw. "Wrong Hackwrench." Lawhinie grinned as D'allure dropped to her knees, still clutching her jaw. "That was for kidnapping my husband," a swift kick connected with the French villain's midsection just before the Rangerwing circled around from its hiding place, "and that's for threatening my daughter".

* * *

**EPILOGUE, Pt. 1**

Chip smiled as the Rangers, plus Lawhinie and her family, left the Rescue Aid Society's branch office in Honolulu. "All in all, I'd say it was a good day's work, Rangers."

"Yeah," Gadget nodded. "Hawaii's safe."

"The authorities are on their way to pick up D'allure," added Dale.

"And she finally got what was comin' to her," finished Lawhinie with a smirk. "The down side of it is I'm out of a job."

Gadget thought for a moment, then turned to Chip and smiled… a little too sweetly. The chipmunk read his wife's expression immediately. "Oh, you've gotta be kidding, Gadget!"

The inventor batted her eyes. "Well, she did help get us out of that mess and stop D'allure."

"She got us into it in the first place!" the detective returned.

"She_is_ family… though we're not quite sure how yet…"

"Wait a minute, you suggesting I go back with you guys?" The Hawaiian mousess shook her head vehemently. "No way; I'm ready to go back to sitting behind a nice boring desk and coming home to my husband and daughter every night."

"Funny you should mention that," Foxglove grinned. "I noticed as we were passing through the lobby that they're looking for a secretary here."

"We could at least put in a good word for 'er," suggested Monty.

Chip debated the matter a moment. "I guess it couldn't hurt to do that much," he then turned to Lawhinie, "_if_ you're serious about straightening out…"

"Up until all this, I already had," Lawhinie told him. "If it hadn't been for D'allure, I still would be."

"She really is a good mommy, Mr. Chip sir," Leilani put in.

Chip looked into the little girl's eyes, then shook his head. "All right, let's go talk to Personnel."

* * *

**EPILOGUE, Pt. 2**

"I will inform my associate of the plan's failure," Pfizer snarled at the microphone in front of him. "He will not be pleased; I know I'm not."

"I assure you, _monsieur_ Pfizer, it will not happen again," D'allure's voice replied from the radio unit.

"You are correct about that, at least." The field mouse's eyes narrowed, reflecting in his tone of voice. "If you have a god, pray to Him that I never find you." He flipped off the radio and steepled his fingers in front of him. He took little notice of very heavy footsteps approaching behind him.

"I take it the air strike should be called off, Rupert?" asked the voice associated with those footsteps.

"Indeed, Nigel," Rupert Pfizer turned to face the person who'd addressed him, a human, and nodded. "It seems our associate in Kauai ran afoul of the group I'd warned you about: the Rescue Rangers."

Nigel's expression was grim. "The organization's not gonna like this, you know."

"I'm aware," Pfizer sighed, then stood, picking up his hat from the table also holding the radio. "If you'll excuse me, I need to see if anything can be salvaged from this debacle."

* * *

Later the same evening, the chairman of the Rescue Aid Society tapped a gavel on the podium before him, calling the meeting to order. "Honorable delegates, as you may already be aware, we have received word of a most grievous case of animal interference in human affairs. It seems that a Ms. Jeanne-Marie D'allure, working with person or persons unknown, had planned sabotage of a human installation in order to assist in a human terrorist attack." A low murmur passed through the assembled delegates. "According to reports, this plan has been foiled by the Rescue Rangers, and Ms. D'allure is now in custody." He looked up as a single hand raised in the audience. "The chair recognizes the delegate from Great Britain."

The delegate gave a small grin as he stood. "Mr. Chairman, fellow delegates, it is our sworn duty to help those in need, great or small. I move that this Ms. D'allure be interrogated by RAS staff to learn just who she was working with. If we can intercept and detain this person or persons, we will have provided that help before the need even arises."

The chairman nodded. "All in favor?" Several "ayes" sounded through the delegation. "Motion carried; we shall leave the matter in your capable hands, Mr. Pfizer."

The delegate's grin grew just a hair wider. "Thank you, Mr. Chairman."


End file.
